Temperatures rose to over 52 degrees C in Mexicali, Baja California, on Thursday. Despite rains from Tropical Storm Ivo, a dangerous heat wave continues to punish northwest Mexico. (SMN)
Prompted by adverse climatic conditions across several regions of the nation, Mexico’s National Meteorological Service (SMN) has issued warnings of a range of weather-related threats from life-threatening surf, high winds and monsoon-related intense rainfall to a scorching heat wave that’s sent temperatures well above 40 degrees C (100 degrees F).
In the Pacific Ocean, Tropical Storm Ivo continued to generate surf swells affecting Mexico’s southwestern coast on Friday and the storm’s maximum sustained winds of 96 km/h (60 mph) began to reach the southern Baja California Peninsula.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) also issued an advisory on Friday, warning that the swells were causing dangerous surf and rip-current conditions. Separately, the SMN warned that Baja California Sur could see surf swells up to 4 meters (13 feet) high, while Oaxaca and Chiapas could expect swells of up to 3 meters (10 feet).
The SMN also warned coastal residents of the states of Jalisco, Nayarit, Colima and Baja California Sur of heavy rains and high winds. The SMN said Jalisco could see upwards of 75 mm (3 inches) of rain on Friday and urged residents in affected areas to pay heed to advisories issued by local civil protection services.
At the same time, a heat wave was scorching northwestern Mexico. Mexicali, the capital of Baja California, set a new record high temperature on Thursday, when the mercury topped out at a potentially lethal 52.7 degrees C (127 degrees F).
State and local authorities in the region have implemented measures to mitigate the heat, setting up hydration stations and air-conditioned shelters.
A report on this year’s heat waves issued on Aug. 1 by Mexico’s General Directorate of Epidemiology said extreme temperatures were to blame for 49 deaths through the end of July, including three in Baja California and 14 in neighboring Sonora.
A third meteorological phenomenon, the Mexican monsoon, was causing atmospheric instability and generating intense rains in the northern states of Durango and Sinaloa.
The Mexican monsoon is a seasonal weather pattern featuring a shift in wind and precipitation patterns characterized by warm, moist air moving inland from the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The monsoon converges in northwestern Mexico, bringing significant rainfall.
The SMN said the monsoon could dump up to 75 mm (3 inches) of rain in Durango and Sinaloa, while Jalisco is expected to see considerable precipitation. Electrical storms and hail were also in the forecast.
Ever since Mexico's Supreme Court ruled that a marijuana ban is unconstitutional, cannabis advocates have seen tolerance areas as a means of removing the stigma they endure. But among local residents, the zones remain controversial. (Magdalena Montiel/Cuartoscuro)
Three major cannabis consumption areas in central Mexico City plazas were relocated this week to new government-designated “420 zones,” igniting a fresh wave of debate, protests and finger-pointing as the capital moves to ready its streets for the 2026 FIFA men’s World Cup.
Protesters block part of the Eje Central earlier this week to express their opposition to a marijuana tolerance zone in the Plaza Conchita near their neighborhood. (Moisés Pablo/Cuartoscuro.com)
Mexico City authorities — citing complaints about crime, on-site marijuana sales and violence — cleared out consumption camps from Plaza de la Información outside the busy Hidalgo Metro station, the Estela de Luz monument at the entrance to Chapultepec Park, and outside of the Museum of Memory and Tolerance in the city center.
In their place, officials created three state-sanctioned “420 zones” for usage: Plaza de la Concepción in the Historic Center, the Simón Bolívar Monument on Paseo de la Reforma in the Guerrero neighborhood, and the José Saramago Reading Plaza adjacent to Chapultepec Park.
Cannabis can be consumed only between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.
Only the legal amount established for personal consumption is permitted.
Users are limited to 40 minutes per visit.
Consumption of alcohol or other substances is not permitted.
The buying and selling of cannabis is not permitted.
Taking photographs or recording video is prohibited within the perimeter.
Violence and harassment will not be tolerated.
Government staff and police will monitor each site throughout the day to keep order and enforce regulations.
Authorities said the new locations were selected in consultation with advocacy groups like Comuna 420 and Siembra Cultura, and were intended to keep consumption away from high-traffic spots and residential neighborhoods.
But tension simmered as soon as the plan rolled out.
“We don’t want to negotiate; we want them to be relocated,” said Óscar Ruiz, a neighborhood manager in Guerrero, who is spearheading a petition for complete removal of the Simón Bolívar zone.
Celebrants gathered near Mexico City’s Angel of Independence last April 20 for World Marijuana Day. (Magdalena Montiel/Cuartoscuro.com)
Some parents said they worry about children being exposed to drug use, especially near schools and public buildings.
“Seeing them here, [children] will think it’s OK to be lazy, doing nothing all day,” said a 45-year-old mother of two who gave her name only as Vianey.
“It’s a mockery that they’re in front of the Attorney General’s Office,” she added, referring to the smoking zone at the Simón Bolívar monument.
“You can’t even walk around in peace anymore,” said María Elena García, who lives near the new Plaza de la Concepción smoking area. “The smell is unbearable, there are people selling stolen goods and even fighting among themselves. This is no longer a safe place.”
Activists, however, defend the new zones as an overdue step toward destigmatizing cannabis use.
“We have to get rid of the label that all marijuana users are criminals,” said “Popeye,” a Comuna 420 organizer at the Simón Bolívar site.
He said the new roundabout was picked to keep smoke and crowds away from main thoroughfares and homes.
At Plaza de la Concepción, Diana, a member of the Daughters of Cannabis collective, said activists have faced open hostility, including threats from residents.
“They thought it was going to be a permanent smoke-out,” Diana said. “They also didn’t know government personnel would be there. What people believe about us is just a stigma.”
“It’s extremely discriminatory that instead of legislating and changing the laws for marijuana users, they prefer to move us or hide us,” Diana said, calling the relocation “an attempt to whitewash the city.”
Mexico’s Supreme Court ruled prohibition of recreational cannabis unconstitutional in 2021, yet a full regulatory framework has yet to be implemented.
The Board of Governors of the Bank of Mexico, Mexico's central bank, voted 4-1 to cut the interest rate from 8.0% to 7.75%, the lowest it has been in three years. (Graciela López/Cuartoscuro)
Mexico’s central bank slowed its pace of monetary easing Thursday, cutting its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points after four straight 50-basis-point cuts this year.
Still, the 4-1 vote lowered the rate to a three-year low of 7.75%.
The decision to cut the rate by only 25 basis points was largely expected after the five-member governing board indicated that smaller reductions were likely.
Deputy Governor Jonathan Heath was the lone dissenter, voting to hold the interest rate at 8%, the second consecutive meeting in which he has voiced a preference for more caution.
The four straight 50-basis-point cuts that the central bank (Bank of Mexico or Banxico) had approved before Thursday’s meeting came after the overnight interbank interest rate sat at 10% before the bank’s February meeting.
News agency Reuters pointed out that Banxico is battling the twin challenges of lowering inflation while stimulating the economy. This represents a difficult balancing act as “weak economic growth and uncertainty tied to trade tensions and geopolitical developments” offset recent positive inflation news.
Central bank Deputy Governor Jonathan Heath, shown here speaking at a conference in April, has been the sole dissenter at the last two meetings, opposing new rate cuts. (Moisés Pablo/Cuartoscuro.com)
Official data released before the bank’s meeting showed inflation had slowed in July to 3.51%, its lowest level in nearly five years, as shrinking produce and energy prices offset acceleration in consumer goods prices.
Mexico’s economy grew by 0.7% in the recently completed second quarter, following an anemic 0.1% mark in the first quarter. A Banxico poll indicates that analysts forecast growth of just 0.3% by year’s end.
Banxico’s post-meeting statement said the decision “took into account the behavior of the exchange rate, the weakness of economic activity, and the possible impact of changes in trade policies worldwide.”
In a research paper, BBVA banking group said the statement’s forward guidance “retained the strategic ambiguity introduced in June, reinforcing a data-dependent approach, with no explicit preference for the next move.”
While Thursday’s Banxico statement did suggest the board would consider rate changes going forward, it withheld specific language regarding future cuts that had been included in previous announcements.
BBVA said the absence of new language in Banxico’s statement suggests the Board of Governors will be cautious going forward, but that they “remain open to continuing the easing cycle, albeit at the current more gradual pace of 25 basis points.”
Inflation data will also influence future decisions. Although Thursday’s inflation news was positive, the outlook was mostly unchanged since core inflation remained high at 4.23%.
Banxico did adjust its forecast for headline (total) inflation in the third quarter, lowering it to 3.8% from 4.1%. However, the bank raised its forecast for Q3 core inflation (which excludes energy and food) from 3.8% to 4.1%.
Banxico’s next Board of Governors meeting is scheduled for Sept. 25.
Sheinbaum pushed back against reports that Trump's order authorized the U.S. military to target criminal organizations abroad. (Cuartoscuro, Shutterstock)
President Claudia Sheinbaum on Friday told reporters that an executive order signed by U.S. President Donald Trump directing the Pentagon to target foreign drug cartels does not pose a risk of invasion to Mexico.
Citing anonymous sources, a New York Times report published on Friday said that Trump has “secretly signed a directive to the Pentagon to begin using military force against certain Latin American drug cartels that his administration has deemed terrorist organizations.”
During her daily press conference, Sheinbaum said the directive does not imply that the U.S. military will cross the border into Mexico. She also told reporters that her administration had been advised of the details of the executive order.
“We were informed that this executive order was coming and that it had nothing to do with the participation of any military personnel or any institution in our territory,” she said, adding that the directive referred exclusively to actions within U.S. territory.
When asked about the Times’ reporting that the directive authorized military use abroad, on land and sea, Sheinbaum dismissed that claim, too.
“No,” she said, “absolutely not. The United States is not going to send its military into Mexico. We cooperate, we collaborate, but there will be no invasion. That’s ruled out … because, in addition to what we’ve stated in all our conversations, it’s not allowed, nor is it part of any agreement.
“We cooperate, we collaborate, but there will be no invasion,” President Sheinbaum said Friday regarding the possibility of U.S. military action in Mexico. (Presidencia)
“Each time they’ve raised the issue, we’ve said no. We can collaborate in other ways, but if [entry of the U.S. military is the suggestion], then no.”
When pressed to explain if the reporting was inaccurate, Sheinbaum demurred, suggesting she had not seen the directive.
“Well, we’ll have to see how the executive order is [written],” she said, “but there’s no risk that they’ll invade our territory.”
The Times reported the U.S. Defense Department declined to comment on the directive. When AFP contacted the Pentagon with regard to the executive order, its questions were referred to the White House.
Still, the Times said Trump’s directive provides an official basis for U.S. military operations at sea or on foreign soil against the cartels.
Mexican cartels in the crosshairs
In February, the Trump administration designated six Mexican drug trafficking groups as terrorist organizations. When the U.S. government announced this classification, Sheinbaum warned that her administration would never tolerate a U.S. invasion.
In a Thursday television interview, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. government could use the designations to “target” cartels, without further specifying what range of actions could be used to do so.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday that designating cartels as terrorist groups allows the U.S. to target them. (@SecRubio/X)
“It allows us to now target what they’re operating and to use other elements of American power, intelligence agencies, the Department of Defense … to target these groups if we have an opportunity to do it,” Rubio said. “We have to start treating them as armed terrorist organizations, not simply drug dealing organizations.”
The Trump administration has already deployed thousands of active-duty combat troops to the U.S. border with Mexico in order to staunch the northward flow of drugs, particularly fentanyl, as well as limit the flow of immigrants.
The U.S. also has sent two warships to patrol the coasts of Mexico — one in the Pacific Ocean, the other in the Gulf of Mexico — a use of naval force without precedent in U.S. border security operations.
The U.S. has also been using drones and spy planes to surveil Mexican drug cartels, an action that Sheinbaum said was “part of a coordinated operation between the U.S. and Mexican governments.”
At the same time, the news agency Reuters reported on Friday that the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is looking to add drug cartel suspects to its terror watch list.
In an exclusive report filed after reviewing law enforcement documents, Reuters reported that the FBI has asked local police to submit the names of people they believe are linked to the eight criminal groups designated as terrorist organizations in February. It also asked for information about family members and associates of the groups’ members.
These names would be added to the U.S. government’s terrorist watch list which contained roughly 1.1 million names as of a year ago.
Civil rights groups have complained that designating suspected cartel and gang members, as well as their relatives, as terrorists will drastically expand the number of people on the watch list, which can subject people to surveillance on airplanes, travel restrictions and secondary screenings at airports and other ports of entry into the United States.
Although it's not well-known outside Mexico and Korea, there has been a Korean diaspora in Mexico since the turn of the 20th century. (Mexican National Archives)
These days, there’s a global obsession with all things Korean, from K-pop and K-dramas to skincare routines and sizzling Korean BBQ. In the Mexico City neighborhood where I live — technically Roma Norte, but close to Zona Rosa’s Little Seoul — Korean restaurants have multiplied in the 18 months since I’ve lived here, to my great delight, I might add.
But did you know that Mexico has had a Korean diaspora since the early 1900s? It was 120 years ago this year that the first wave of Koreans set foot on Mexican soil. In this piece, we’ll explore the fascinating and tragic story of that migration and what followed.
Koreans originally came to Mexico on indentured laborer contracts in Yucatán that turned out to be highly exploitative. (Mexican National Archives)
A forgotten migration story
In 1904, global power struggles and economic demands set the stage for an unlikely migration. Korea was increasingly under Japan’s control, though official annexation wouldn’t come until a few years later. Meanwhile, Mexico was in the last years of the President Porfirio Díaz dictatorship, and the Yucatán Peninsula faced a labor shortage as global demand surged for henequén, an agave plant used to make rope and twine.
To meet that demand, a Japanese firm partnered with a British labor recruiter to bring Korean workers to Mexico under misleading terms. Newspaper ads in Korea described Yucatán as a land of opportunity. They promised free transport to Mexico, housing, access to land, education for children, healthcare and a guaranteed return home.
The reality, however, would turn out to be grim.
At the time, Korean emigration outside Asia had only just begun. In 1902, laborers were first sent to work on sugar plantations in Hawaii. But by 1905, Japan began limiting Korean migration to the U.S., worried it threatened Japanese laborers and would increase anti-Japanese sentiment in places like California.
As a result, Mexico — with no prior diplomatic ties to Korea and no existing Korean population — became the next destination for migrant labor. This was driven more by Japan’s imperial interests than by any bilateral agreement.
Korean men arriving in 1905 at the Port of Progreso, destined for Yucatán’s henequen fields. (Mexican National Archives)
From hope to hard labor
On May 4, 1905, over 1,000 Koreans disembarked at the port of Salina Cruz, Oaxaca, after a long trans-Pacific voyage aboard the SS Ilford. They had left an impoverished and unstable Korea for a better life in Mexico. Instead, they were sold as indentured laborers to henequén plantation owners in Yucatán.
They were quickly absorbed into Mexico’s deeply exploitative hacienda system. What had been promised as a five‑year contract with fair conditions — almost a dream opportunity for the time — turned into a grueling and punishing reality. Laborers worked long hours in extreme conditions harvesting henequén — referred to as “green gold” — without any of the promised benefits.
Many Korean workers were scattered across vast plantations with no access to Korean-language schools, churches or community networks. Isolated from one another and cut off from their culture, they found themselves working side by side with Indigenous Maya laborers, who were also subjected to the same brutal labor conditions.
Over time, the Korean men began to adopt elements of Maya life. Some learned Mayan before Spanish and formed deep bonds with the local communities. Intermarriage between Koreans and Maya became common. As families formed, a unique cultural fusion emerged. The descendants of these unions grew up immersed in Maya traditions, Catholic festivals and local customs while the Korean language and identity slowly faded.
By the time their contracts ended in 1910, Korea had been formally annexed by Japan, and the Mexican Revolution was erupting. There was no home to return to, and few viable alternatives. Many stayed in Yucatán; others left to find work elsewhere in Mexico or in Cuba.
Aenikkaeng: Reclaiming a buried identity
Descendants of those original migrants eventually came to call themselves Aenikkaeng, a term derived from the Korean pronunciation of “henequén.” It’s a word that captures both the hardship and the legacy of their ancestors’ experience.
For decades, this history remained buried. It wasn’t until the 1970s that South Korean researchers, diplomats and journalists began visiting Yucatán to trace the descendants of the SS Ilford’s 1905 passengers. Their efforts aligned with South Korea’s broader push to strengthen ties with Latin America, and the rediscovery of the Aenikkaeng story took on historical and diplomatic importance.
Yucatán and Korean government officials marked the 120th anniversary of the arrival of Mexico’s first Koreans in May, during a celebration of Korea’s independence day. (Government of Yucatán)
In 2005, the centennial of Korean immigration to Mexico was commemorated in Mérida with a monument inscribed with the names of the original 1905 laborers. Two years later, the Museum of Korean Immigration to Yucatán (MCICY) opened with support from both the Mexican and South Korean governments.
Yet, for many descendants, cultural identity remained complicated. Those interviewed during centennial celebrations often described feeling Korean in name only. Their lives were shaped by the land they grew up in — by Maya roots, Mexican traditions and generations of adaptation.
A cultural revival
In recent years, there have been growing efforts to reconnect with that lost heritage. Local organizations like the Asociación Coreano-Mexicana have launched language courses, genealogy projects and heritage trips to South Korea. Some younger Aenikkaeng descendants have traveled to Seoul or Incheon, seeking work there or trying to understand the culture their ancestors left behind.
In 2017, Korean-Argentine photographer Michael Vince Kim released a striking photo series documenting Aenikkaeng descendants in Yucatán and Cuba. His portraits offered an intimate glimpse into a little-known community, honoring the memory of those early migrants and the quiet endurance of their families. The series, like the people it portrayed, is both powerful and understated — a visual tribute to a legacy long overlooked.
The story of Koreans in Mexico is still missing from most textbooks and public discourse. While the experiences of other Asian migrant communities have been recognized, the Korean story remains largely absent from Mexico’s national narrative. For the Aenikkaeng, recognition is long overdue — but it’s slowly beginning to arrive.
Koreans in Mexico today
Approximately 13,000 ethnic Koreans now live in Mexico, with the largest communities in Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey. In Mexico City, the area informally known as Little Seoul thrives with Korean restaurants, grocery stores and businesses, a vibrant counterpoint to the first wave of laborers who arrived in 1905 and the product of a newer migration surge tied to South Korean corporate expansion in the 1990s. Mexico City has become a hub of Korean restaurants, grocery stores and businesses, reflecting a very different kind of Korean migration.
I live just a few blocks from there, and it’s one of my favorite things about the neighborhood. After spending time in South Korea, there’s something comforting about being able to pick up gochujang nearby or sit down for a good bowl of kimchi jjigae. It’s a reminder of a place and time that still feels close — just in a different context.
Rocio is a Mexican-American writer based in Mexico City. She was born and raised in a small village in Durango and moved to Chicago at age 12, a bicultural experience that shapes her lens on life in Mexico. She’s the founder of CDMX IYKYK, a newsletter for expats, digital nomads, and the Mexican diaspora, and Life of Leisure, a women’s wellness and spiritual community.
Sanborns is the biggest name in Mexican retail, but who are they and where did they come from? (Sanborns)
The corner of Avenida Francisco Madero and Calle de Condesa in Mexico City’s Historic Center is chaotic. Myriad vendors sell eyeglasses and beggars croon Luis Miguel ballads from portable microphones, and tourists take side profile selfies against a blue-and-white tiled facade, while extended families form a line that snakes down the street. To the naked eye, Casa de los Azulejos seems like nothing more than a typical historic Mexico City establishment — a department store on the inside, a Portuguese-colonial style house on the outside. And in the most literal sense, that’s exactly what it is. To a Mexico City native, however, this coveted location represents so much more than that. This is the flagship Sanborns — Mexico’s iconic department store and its answer to the Herald Square Macy’s. Its story takes us from an immigrant business opportunity to retail’s journey toward modernization in the nation’s capital.
The Sanborn brothers arrive
Brothers Walter and Frank Sanborn arrived in Mexico City from their home state of California in 1903. They soon called upon their entrepreneurial spirit and opened a business. Sanborns American Pharmacy was established on the busy street known today as Calle Tacuba. It’s often called the oldest street in the Americas.
Mexico’s iconic department store in Mexico City, Sanborns’ la Casa de los Azulejos, as it looked in the early 20th century. (Sanborns)
The Sanborns’ focus on community integration influenced the brothers to install a soda fountain in their new pharmacy. Locals could sip on American-style ice cream sodas and, as a result, the small business quickly became a popular gathering place among the capital’s elite and middle classes. By 1919, their hybrid pharmacy-parlor concept had outgrown its original location. The Sanborn brothers faced a decision. Should they take the leap and rent that expensive, blue-tiled 18th-century palace on Avenida Francisco I. Madero, just a few blocks away?
The Casa de los Azulejos: The historic palace that changed everything
Frank and Walter went for it, and Francisco Sergio de Iturbe, the owner of the historic Casa de los Azulejos, agreed to rent them the mansion as a mixed-use space. Despite early criticism over the mansion’s conversion into a commercial business, the store’s opening on Oct. 11, 1919, was a success. At the time, this highly unique blend of retail, leisure, dining and socialization was novel, and Sanborns effectively created what the coffee shop might be for us today. Which is to say, a vital social hub that was neither home nor work.
Mexico City’s intellectual hub
Early journalistic references and scholarly papers report that throughout the 1920s, Sanborns attracted Mexico City’s intellectual and creative society. Salvador Novo, one of Mexico’s most prominent writers, refers to the establishment in his 1946 urban chronicle “Nueva grandeza mexicana”:
“That Sanborns across the way, where we could have eaten, or bought toothpaste, a suit, silver, playing cards, paintings, sweets, laxatives or admired a fresco by Orozco, [which also] is the Palace of the Tiles, whose detailed history was written by the Marquis of San Francisco, and before becoming what it is, once housed a Jockey Club.”
To cement the building’s status as the epitome of elegance, de Iturbe commissioned one of Mexico’s favorite artists, José Clemente Orozco, to adorn the staircase with his talent. Orozco’s mural, known as “Omnisciencia,” turned out to be a pivotal work in the artist’s career. It’s widely recognized as a storyboard of human knowledge, intelligence and inspiration.
How Sanborns redefined Mexican shopping culture
Sanborns established itself early on as a cornerstone of Mexican consumer life. Unlike other establishments in downtown Mexico City, it offered something different. It had access to both retail and hospitality under one roof. By integrating full-service restaurants and coffee shops alongside shelves of daily-use products like books, cosmetics, electronics, clothing and pharmaceuticals, Sanborns blurred the lines between shopping and social experience, attracting both practical buyers and leisure visitors. Moreover, product displays were cutting-edge. Aisles were clean and organized by item type, optimized to capture a browser’s attention.
The interior of Sanborns’ Casa de los Azulejos in Mexico City circa 2014. (Diego Delso)
In the 1940s, Sanborns was acquired by Walgreens Co. (this would be the U.S. company’s first foreign investment) and locations started popping up throughout Mexico City, Puebla and Acapulco. Walgreens sold its shares to Grupo Carso in the mid-1980s, marking the crucial moment that Carlos Slim took over. Slim’s acquisition of Sanborns ignited a phase of aggressive expansion. By 2021, 196 establishments could be found across Mexico in various forms: stand-alone cafes, shopping mall integrations and restaurant-department store fusions.
Sanborns today
Today, Sanborns is adapting to an increasingly virtual world. Digital catalogs and in-store pickup are being incorporated to satisfy digital-savvy shoppers, and improved restaurant service appeals to old and new diners. While a few dozen stores have closed, the company reported 73.4 billion pesos in consolidated revenue for fiscal 2024. Plans to expand 10-15 locations by the end of the year defy Mexico’s inflationary pressures, and Sanborns continues to be one of Slim’s strongest investments.
Visiting Sanborns Casa de los Azulejos: A complete Mexico City experience
The Sanborns restaurant in Casa de los Azulejos remains a must-see for Mexico City visitors. They enter from the door facing Avenida Francisco I. Madero and walk past aisles of puzzles, desk lamps and stationery. The restaurant host still, at the time of writing, scribbles your name into an oversized agenda book and takes you to your seat. Of the three towering stories in the former Countess of Orizaba’s abode, two are dedicated to dining and drinking.
Should you be served by a “samborina,” she’ll arrive at your table dressed in a crisp white blouse, traditional folk-style skirt, a colorful huipil and a small headpiece, all fitted by an in-house seamstress. Ask for the signature dish, enchiladas suizas. These are named not after any European-influenced cooking style but rather for the peaks and valleys of melted cheese that allegedly reminded Walter Sanborn of the Swiss Alps. According to the Sanborns website, La Gastronomía Mexicana recognizes enchiladas suizas as a fundamental element of Mexican cuisine.
Your visit to the Casa de los Azulejos, Mexico’s iconic department store, may feature live music. Depending on the time of year, opulent holiday decor, too. Christmas is an especially exciting time to visit. After breakfast and a Mexican coffee, stroll through the shop’s eclectic variety of items like a local before making your way back outside to the delightful commotion of the Historic Center that never seems to end.
Bethany Platanella is a travel planner and lifestyle writer based in Mexico City. She lives for the dopamine hit that comes directly after booking a plane ticket, exploring local markets, practicing yoga and munching on fresh tortillas. Sign up to receive her Sunday Love Letters to your inbox, peruse her blog or follow her on Instagram.
After eight months of operations in Tulum airport, Discover moved its Frankfurt route to Cancún, a larger international hub. (Discover Airlines/Facebook)
Discover Airlines, the German subsidiary of Lufthansa, has announced it will cancel its direct route between Frankfurt International Airport (FRA) and Tulum International Airport (TQO) starting this winter.
In its first year and a half of operations, the Tulum airport has received a steady stream of travelers but infrastructure challenges remain an issue. (Mara Lezama vía X)
The route between Frankfurt and Cancún will operate during the 2025-2026 winter season on Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. A fifth flight will be added on Thursdays during the Christmas period to meet increased demand.
More airlines cancel routes to Tulum
Less than two years after its opening, multiple international airlines have had to reevaluate their presence in Tulum, mainly due to infrastructure challenges. Ground transport options are limited and slow due to a lack of roads connecting to the Tulum hotel zone. Furthermore, airlines are facing low profitability as demand has been lower than expected.
Air Canada and United Airlines both cut back their operations in Tulum, eliminating connections from key cities. Air Canada suspended flights from Ottawa (YOW) and Quebec City (YQB), and will reduce frequencies from Montreal (YUL), dropping from five to three flights per week. Only the route from Toronto (YYZ) will remain unchanged, with four weekly flights to Tulum.
Meanwhile, United Airlines canceled a planned route from Denver (DEN) and eliminated service from Boston (BOS), shifting its focus to Cancún. Copa Airlines and Avianca have also withdrawn their connections from Panama City (PTY) and Colombia (BOG), respectively.
Along with the Maya Train and the Felipe Ángeles International Airport near Mexico City, the Tulum airport was one of former President Andrés López Obrador’s flagship projects. It opened as a modern and strategic alternative to relieve congestion in Cancún and bring international tourism closer to destinations such as Bacalar, Mahahual and the surrounding Maya region. But despite incentives announced by the government, including discounts on the Airport Use Fee (TUA) and platform services, airlines continue to withdraw.
New flights between Argentina and Cancún
Meanwhile, Cancún continues to add flights. Starting in January 2026, Aerolíneas Argentinas will increase its service to Cancún, one of the most in-demand international destinations for the Argentine market. The company will go from operating three flights per week to offering up to seven flights per week between Buenos Aires (EZE) and Cancún.
The new routes will operate on Mondays and Saturdays with two flights per day, and Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays with one daily flight. There’ll be no operations on Fridays and Sundays.
President Sheinbaum touched on issues related to relations with the U.S. and Guatemala at Thursday's press conference. (Gabriel Monroy/Presidencia)
An immigration raid in the United States and plans to meet with the leaders of Mexico’s two southern neighbors were among the issues President Claudia Sheinbaum spoke about at her Thursday morning press conference.
She also highlighted that Mexico’s headline inflation rate declined significantly in July.
Sheinbaum expresses opposition to US immigration raids
A reporter noted that U.S. authorities carried out an immigration raid in California on Wednesday despite court-ordered “restrictions” against such operations.
“U.S. border patrol agents carried out a raid outside a Home Depot in Los Angeles on Wednesday, with officers jumping out of an unmarked rental truck and chasing and arresting more than a dozen people,” The Guardian reported.
“Videos of the operation, and federal officials’ statements boasting about the detentions, have raised questions about whether the U.S. government was complying with a federal court order halting indiscriminate raids in the region due to evidence of racial profiling,” the newspaper said.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said that “Border Patrol conducted a targeted raid, dubbed Trojan Horse, in Los Angeles at a Home Depot that resulted in the arrest of 16 illegal aliens from Guatemala, Mexico, Honduras, and Nicaragua.”
🚨 Redada migratoria en Home Depot de Los Ángeles
Más de una docena de personas fueron detenidas durante una operación migratoria llamada “Trojan Horse”, realizada por agentes federales que llegaron en una camioneta de Penske al estacionamiento de un Home Depot en Westlake.… pic.twitter.com/gqgRPERE6g
Sheinbaum reiterated her opposition to operations targeting undocumented immigrants living in the United States.
“We don’t agree with the raids,” she said.
“And we’re going to protect and assist our compatriots in every way possible within the framework of our laws, the diplomatic relationship [with the United States], and the support we can provide them from the [Mexican] consulates,” Sheinbaum said.
Sheinbaum to meet with president of Guatemala
Sheinbaum told reporters that she would meet with Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo next week.
She said she would provide additional details about the meeting on Monday.
“Yesterday I told you that the prime minister of Canada was coming. Next week we’ll see the president of Guatemala … in the southeast [of Mexico],” Sheinbaum said.
President Sheinbaum will meet with Guatemala’s President Bernardo Arévalo next week in southern Mexico, she said. (Gobierno de Guatemala/Flickr)
She said that the exact meeting place hadn’t yet been determined.
Sheinbaum said she was looking at whether she could also meet with the prime minister of Belize, Johnny Briceño, next week.
The president has not yet met face-to-face with the leader of Mexico’s other immediate neighbor, the United States, but she has spoken to Donald Trump by telephone on numerous occasions, most recently last Thursday.
Sheinbaum highlights ‘very significant’ decline in inflation
Sheinbaum acknowledged that annual headline inflation declined to 3.51% in July, as reported by the national statistics agency INEGI on Thursday.
She noted that the highest rate of headline inflation so far this year was 4.42% in May, followed by a rate of 4.32% in June.
The drop to 3.51% in July is “very significant,” Sheinbaum said.
The rate is within the Bank of Mexico’s target range range of 2-4% annual inflation.
On Tuesday afternoon, the central bank announced a 25-basis-point cut to its key interest rate, lowering it to 7.75%.
By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies (peter.davies@mexiconewsdaily.com)
The migrant bats made themselves at home on the ceiling of the Tlaxcala family's storeroom. Their stay could last two or three months. (Profepa)
Nelson Barrera, the Mexican Baseball League’s all-time leading home run hitter with 455, made good use of his share of bats during his legendary career — but he’s got nothing on a Mexican family whose home in the central state of Tlaxcala is suddenly hosting 2,000 bats of the furry, flying variety.
The family’s home in the municipality of Nativitas has become an unlikely — yet government-sanctioned — sanctuary for more than 2,000 bats of the species Leptonycteris yerbabuenae, informally known as the lesser long-nosed bat.
The common name of the bat species living with the Tlaxcala family is the lesser long-nosed bat, more formally Leptonycteris yerbabuenae. (Profepa)
The Federal Attorney’s Office for Environmental Protection (Profepa) reported this week that the murciélagos (bats) — who established themselves naturally in the private residence about a month ago — are presumed to be a migratory bat colony associated with the agave bloom in the region.
Experts believe their presence will last until September or October, coinciding with the end of their reproductive and migratory cycles.
Happily, according to news reports, the family has agreed to allow the animals to remain in their home until they naturally depart.
The houseguests will be hosted in coordination with environmental institutions to ensure both the family’s own safety and the bats’ welfare.
During a Profepa inspection on July 26, conservation specialists detected numerous pregnant females.
La Profepa atiende una contingencia en la que 2,000 murciélagos entraron a una vivienda en Nativitas, Tlaxcala. 🌙🦇 Durante la intervención nocturna se realizaron trabajos de limpieza e inactivación de guano 🧹💧y se impartió capacitación a la familia y autoridades locales. 👨👩👧👦📚… pic.twitter.com/7ZWRwqDEDk
The homeowner has “no intention of harming the specimens in any way,” the agency added, noting his “willingness to cooperate with the authorities.”
To mitigate potential sanitation issues, environmental authorities — supported by specialists from the Tlaxcala State Wildlife Institute and the Autonomous University of Tlaxcala — conducted a nighttime guano cleanup operation on July 29.
Guano, the accumulated droppings of bats, can be hazardous in enclosed spaces because it promotes the growth of harmful fungi, such as Histoplasma capsulatum. When disturbed, its airborne spores can be inhaled and cause serious respiratory illnesses in humans.
Municipal services oversaw the responsible disposal of the first round of accumulated waste, ensuring compliance with environmental regulations.
As a precaution, a plastic sheeting field was installed to facilitate future guano monitoring — and nighttime cleanups when the animals are out and about feeding on agave and other flowering plants.
Experts hope the attention drawn by the Tlaxcala bats’ unusual living arrangements will boost education about their vital role in insect control and pollination. Here, Dr. Rodrigo Medellín, founding director of the Latin American Network for the Conservation of Bats, lectures in Mexico City last March. (Victoria Valtierra/Cuartoscuro.com)
Profepa, alongside local and state organizations, has provided training and awareness-raising sessions for the family and municipal civil protection personnel.
The collaborative effort has included Mexico’s Environment Ministry(Semarnat), officials with the Altiplano Zoo on the outskirts of Tlaxcala City, the state’s animal- and rabies-control agency Zoonosis and the state’s health services department.
Their focus is on “highlighting the importance of the species, promoting protection measures and establishing alternatives for harmonious coexistence should the specimens seek to establish themselves permanently.”
Leptonycteris yerbabuenae plays a crucial ecological role, particularly in the pollination of agave plants, essential for the production of tequila and mezcal.
According to Semarnat, Mexico is home to 138 bat species — almost 10% of the world’s bat diversity — making the country a global hotspot for bat biology.
Bats are vital not only as pollinators but also as seed dispersers and natural pest controllers; approximately 70% of Mexican bat species feed on insects, aiding crop protection and supporting food security.
No Mexican media outlet or official source has specified exactly in which room of the house the bats have settled, but all available coverage confirms that the family will remain living inside the house during the bats’ temporary stay.
Nativitas, Tlaxcala, is in the high-altitude plains, approximately 2,200 meters above sea level in the Puebla-Tlaxcala Valley.
Andrés Manuel López Beltrán, son of ex-President López Obrador, is one of several Morena party politicians facing criticism for recent luxury travel. (Rogelio Morales/Cuartoscuro)
No one would begrudge someone a vacation after a series of “grueling workdays,” would they?
If you’re the son of Mexico’s former president and a high-ranking official with the ruling Morena party — and you stay at a luxury hotel in Tokyo while on vacation — the answer is definitely yes.
Andrés Manuel López Beltrán — son of Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) and Morena’s current secretary of organization — came under under intense criticism from opposition party politicians and others after it came to light that he had gone on vacation to Japan and was staying at The Okura Tokyo, a five-star hotel.
López Beltrán, commonly known as Andy, was also photographed leaving a Prada store in the Japanese capital, which only added to the criticism of the son of a president who regularly spoke of the virtues of “republican austerity” and styled himself as a common man and anti-corruption crusader.
Ricardo Anaya, a former presidential candidate who is now the National Action Party’s top senator, accused AMLO’s son and Morena party politicians in general — among whom are others who have recently vacationed abroad — of “hypocrisy” and declared them “frauds.”
“They say that they live in the middle ground, but they take the most expensive trips a person could take,” he said Wednesday, referring to López Beltrán’s trip to Japan as well as the recent European vacations of Morena politicians including Education Minister Mario Delgado and Deputy Ricardo Monreal.
López Beltrán stayed at the Okura Tokyo, a five-star hotel that he said cost 7,500 pesos (US $400) per night. (Okura Tokyo)
Focusing specifically on López Beltrán’s trip, Anaya asked:
“Which account did the money come out of to pay for the plane ticket? With which account or card was the accommodation paid?”
The PAN senator added: “They have salaries of 60,000 pesos [per month], but they take trips that cost hundreds of thousands of pesos.”
Anaya’s implication — and the insinuation or accusation of many others — is that Morena party politicians are living large on the public purse, engaging in corrupt activity, essentially stealing from the Mexican people. As expected, the politicians in question deny this.
Still, at the very least, López Beltrán, Delgado, Monreal and other Morena politicians are not living frugally, critics say, and are therefore not upholding the values of austerity so frequently extolled by Morena’s founder, ex-president AMLO, who declared on countless occasions that “there can’t be a rich government with a poor people.”
‘We are not the same, we are not corrupt’
On July 26, a journalist with the news outlet Latinus posted photos to his X account that showed López Beltrán and a Morena deputy getting their breakfast in a restaurant at The Okura Tokyo.
“Right now, Andy López Beltrán and the Deputy Daniel Asaf, the former right-hand man of AMLO, are having breakfast at the buffet of The Okura Tokyo, a renowned five-star luxury hotel,” Claudio Ochoa wrote above the photos.
En estos instantes, Andy López Beltrán y el diputado Daniel Asaf, exmano derecha de AMLO, desayunan en el bufet del hotel Okura de Tokyo, un reconocido cinco estrellas de lujo.
La gorra y los lentes oscuros en sitios cerrados es lo de hoy en el Morena Tour. pic.twitter.com/H6wNgHStk7
— Claudio Ochoa Huerta (@ClaudioOchoaH) July 27, 2025
It was this post that triggered the recent anti-Andy furor, and led to many questions being asked about his conduct.
Some of those questions were directed to President Claudia Sheinbaum, AMLO’s successor, political protégé and chief perpetuator and defender of his “fourth transformation” — an ongoing Morena-backed national project whose stated central goals include ridding Mexico of corruption. The political project is deeply rooted in the idea — either a truth or fallacy depending on one’s political persuasion — that those in power today are not the same as the corrupt (or allegedly corrupt) ruling class of the past.
Like his father said many times, López Beltrán says he is definitely not the same as the politicians who allegedly “looted” Mexico during the country’s so-called “neoliberal years” between 1982 and 2018.
On Tuesday, 10 days after the Tokyo hotel photos of him emerged and as the public outcry continued, the high-ranking Morena functionary evidently felt it was time to respond to the avalanche of criticism he has faced and thus posted an “explanatory note” to his Instagram account.
His key points? López Beltrán said:
He made a request to go on vacation to Morena national president Luisa María Alcalde.
He paid for the trip with his own money.
He decided to take a vacation to Japan after a series of “grueling” workdays.
He took a commercial flight to Tokyo from Seattle.
He paid 7,500 pesos (about US $400) per day for his hotel stay, which included (his now infamous) breakfast.
In his statement, López Beltrán took aim at his “adversaries” and “the hypocritical conservatives,” who he claimed “sent their spies to photograph me and harass me in order to undertake a political lynching campaign filled with hate, classism and slander, such as that I traveled in a private or army plane and stayed in a hotel that costs 50,000 pesos [about US $2,700] per night.”
After his trip drew media attention, López Beltrán posted a note on Instagram defending his summer travel choices. (Andrés Manuel López Beltrán/Instagram)
He said he wasn’t surprised by the “aggression” directed toward him, but added that he didn’t want “the people who trust us” to “doubt our principles and values.”
“We’re not the same [as past politicians], we’re not corrupt and in my case, I learnt from when I was a child, possibly before others, that power is humility, that austerity is a matter of principles and that one must live in the middle ground as [former] president [Benito] Juárez advised,” López Beltrán wrote.
“… We will never forget to make our public life a straight line and we will follow the example of our President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo in not lying, stealing or betraying the people of Mexico,” he wrote.
Sheinbaum urges politicians to live modestly
On Sunday, July 27, the day after the photos of López Beltrán were published, and as Delgado and Monreal were facing criticism over their European vacations, Sheinbaum spoke at an event in Mexico City at which a new cable car project was presented.
“There can’t be a rich government with a poor people,” she said during her address, borrowing a line from her political mentor.
“What does that mean? We don’t want corruption in government, the resources of the people belong to the people of Mexico. The rulers [or political class] must live in la justa medianía, as Juárez said,” Sheinbaum said.
Without explicitly naming López Beltrán, President Sheinbaum urged her government colleagues to live modestly. (Gabriel Monroy /Presidencia)
La justa medianía — a term López Beltrán used in his statement — can be translated as “the middle ground,” or “the fair (or exact) middle ground,” or “just moderation.”
In addition to using the term to urge politicians to live modestly, Sheinbaum also said that public resources “must never go to the pockets” of politicians.
“Power is exercised with humility. That is my position and will always be my position. People have the right to visit one country or another, but we have a political responsibility that has to do with the movement we represent and the principles we represent. Much of our thinking has to do with the thinking of Juárez, which is, ‘There can’t be a rich government with a poor people.’ So all of us, at the time we are performing a public position, have to behave appropriately. … Everyone has to be recognized by their history and by their behavior, always.”
Sheinbaum stressed that everyone, including public servants and politicians, has the right to take vacations — and indeed the number of days workers are permitted to take off was doubled during the López Obrador administration.
However, “luxury trips” and a “luxurious life” are not compatible with the “transformation movement,” she said last Friday.
Sheinbaum, who took a commercial flight to Brazil for last year’s G20 Summit, ruled out going on vacation herself any time soon, saying that she has to work and attend to her “many responsibilities.”
Asked on Wednesday about López Beltrán’s statement, the president declined to comment on it, but indicated that she has a good relationship with the Morena official, saying she gets on with everyone, even her “adversaries.”
One thing’s for sure though. Sheinbaum would much rather be speaking about government projects, policies and achievements than responding to questions about the extravagant international travel of politicians and officials affiliated with the movement she leads.
By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies (peter.davies@mexiconewsdaily.com)
